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Intelligence chief slams Czech authorities’ move to expel Russian diplomats as provocation

Sergei Naryshkin noted that these actions won’t go unanswered

MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/. The Czech authorities’ decision to expel two Russian diplomats is a provocation that won’t go unanswered, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergei Naryshkin told reporters on Saturday.

"Retaliatory measures will be taken but generally speaking, it was a vile and heinous provocation on the part of the Czech authorities," he said.

On June 5, the Czech Foreign Ministry notified the Russian embassy of Prague’s decision to expel two embassy workers. Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis earlier declared the two diplomats personae non grata. According to him, reports of a Russian diplomat bringing ricin poison into the country, which followed the demolition of a monument dedicated to WWII Soviet Marshal Ivan Konev in Prague, turned out to be fake. Babis alleged that a Russian embassy employee had provided counterintelligence services with false information about a planned poison attack on Czech politicians, raising tensions between the two countries.

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